Pacifica Measure Would Ban Fireworks

Published 4:00 am, Friday, October 25, 1996

For Pacifica Fire Chief Gary Stofan, banning fireworks in this coastside city is simply a logical way to prevent a disaster.

That's why he supports Measure W, an advisory measure on the November ballot urging the city council to prohibit the sale and use of fireworks in Pacifica. The measure would apply to all fireworks, including those approved by the state.

"We tell children not to play with fires 365 days of the year, then for one day a year, we tell them it's OK," he said. "It's a bad message. Do we wait until we burn down a house or put somebody's eye out before we ban fireworks?"

Measure W opponents say illegal fireworks are the problem, and the ban would not stop people from using these. They also say the ban would kill a valuable funding source for many nonprofit school and community organizations organizations.

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"There are organizations up and down the coast that make money out of selling fireworks," said David Kazakoff, principal of Terra Nova High School, whose football and booster club raise much of their funds through fireworks sales during the Fourth of July season. "It's such a moneymaker for this school." Dick Klein, hall manager of the American Legion, Post 238, said selling fireworks "is basically our largest fund-raiser of the year."

The debate between safety and the right of nonprofit groups to raise money has been going for about 20 years, said Stofan.

The Pacifica City Council tried to ban fireworks in the 1970s and 1980s, but was forced to back down after citizens' groups opposed the move.

Pacifica and San Bruno are the only cities in San Mateo County that allow the sale and use of so- called safe and sane fireworks, which flare up only about two to three feet.